I asked somebody the question,
'I've come into retirement and what advice would you give to me?'
And he said, 'Prepare for your death'.
I laughed because it was true.
This is what people do. You write out wills, if you haven't already.
If you live long enough, you're going to retire.
My retirement was two or three years premature.
Mine was due to health reasons.
At 60 I decided something has got to change.
I just thought I can't be dealing with dying at work.
I've spent 40 years of my life here
and I've seen it happen to other people.
It's all you do... you work and die.
I think a lot of people that retire feel that it is the end.
They don't see a light after work.
And they don't see meaning for their lives.
And once they don't work, they don't see their purpose anymore.
You've worked all your life. You've never not worked.
You don't know what you're going to do with that energy.
So much has occupied you for so long, that is taken away.
It's void.
And how you fill that void
is your journey forward.
I'm busier now than what I was ever at work.
I used to drive around from one appointment to the other
sitting on my backside in appointments for hours.
Now I'm digging, cutting, planting things, pulling things out.
I'm an artist.
I sit and I look at my tapestry change, every single day.
It's unbelievable.
What was there yesterday, isn't there tomorrow.
And what was there three days ago, is different today.
I've been walking this same garden now
for almost three years, every single day.
And I still see things that I've never seen before
that were there all the time.
What am I going to see tomorrow?
It's just fascinating.
Three years ago I wouldn't have the energy, or my health,
to be able to do any of this.
When I was working I was a prescription addict.
I slept every night with a Zolpidem tablet.
I had certain pills for certain things...
anxiety...
things for stress.
And by my mid 30's I was totally dependent upon them.
I came to this village on a number of tablets...
eight, maybe ten.
I now take two.
I'm happier now than I've ever been.
I've got the freedom now to do what I choose to do.
I've never had that opportunity.
I can now do what I want
for the first time in my life.
I was always told to do this, do that,
stand in line, study, go to school.
Now I do what I like.
And I'm loving it.
There's so much enjoyment to be had
that you weren't able to have
while you were raising children and going to work.
It's been like a renaissance for me.
I have found a new self.
I've found parts of me that I never knew existed.
I remember going to the clinic here for the first time in the village.
And I said to the nursing sister there,
'I've moved here from the city.'
'What good advice can you give me about living here?'
And she looked at me and she said,
'Enjoy the nature.'
It didn't mean much to me at that moment in time.
Slowly, as the months trickled by,
I began to understand exactly what she meant.
It's like buying a present
and you know there is something inside the box.
And then slowly you get to the actual thing.
I knew what I was getting, but I've now opened the box.
And my word am I happy.
It's amazing... I've got gooseflesh.
You must come in summer, I'll show you.
So the revelation it's given me has just completely transformed me.
That's what I've learnt here as well is that
this whole ecosystem that exists...
we're all dependent upon each other.
I think what our lives are all here for
is to improve the life of somebody else.
Be kind to your brother and your sister on this earth.
Do something for somebody else that needs it.
You can't hand out material things indefinitely.
You know, the man with the loaves and fishes...
I can't.
Mine runs out...
the loaves and the fishes.
But I can give of my time. I can give love.
I can give concern. I can give care.
Everybody has something to give.
That person that has nothing can listen to somebody's story.
It's amazing what it does for people that don't have much
just to be kind
or just to tell them that you care.
Life for me, it is a journey.
It starts and it ends.
What people think of me when I'm dead
I won't know.
But I would like to leave a legacy that is better.
What I've got from this planet, I'm going to give back...
but a little bit more.
Just like you should and everybody else.
I want my death to be better than my birth...
more people there... more people happy.